A LOT OF BAD FOOTBALL ON TV SUNDAY & THE CHIEFS WERE THE WORST
It's only week three & we're already down to just 7 undefeated teams. There are 6 winless teams, not counting the Carolina Panthers, who play Monday night in Dallas. With the exception of Tennessee, I think the winless teams will stay that way for a while. At least one of the undefeated teams won't remain so as the Jets travel to New Orleans, something has to give.
As we spent another Sunday hold up in the television bunker, I can tell you we watched a lot of bad football. I saw a few good teams dispatch their opponents quickly & mercifully like Philadelphia, the Giants & Baltimore. The Giants played without 8 starters & still skunked the Bucs 24-0 in Tampa. Philly was minus Kevin Curtis, Brian Westbrook & Donovan McNabb, but they were playing, what is essentially, a AA team, so no real problem. Baltimore feasted on the Browns, another AA team.
The number of game-changing plays in the San Francisco-Minnesota game made it exciting to watch, but there was a lot of bad football in that one too. Percy Harvin ran back a kickoff 101-yards. The Vikes lined up for a field goal attempt on the last play of the 1st half leading 13-7. The kick was blocked & returned for a touchdown, instead of going to the locker room up 16-7, they trailed 14-13. And if you missed the last minute of the game, Viking fans were treated to some vintage Brett Favre. With 11 seconds left at the Niner 32, Favre, after moving around to avoid the rush, threw a perfect strike to wide receiver Greg Lewis on the back line of the endzone for the winning score. It was Lewis' 1st catch of the day, in fact he hadn't played one offensive down before that play. Lewis made a good catch, but getting both feet down inside the back line with 2 defenders on him, was amazing.
The Tennessee Titans snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the Meadowlands. Jet QB Mark Sanchez scrambled for a touchdown on their first possession. On the ensuing kickoff, Titan return man Ryan Moutan, fumbled at the Tennessee 19 & 5 plays later the Jets scored again. Down 14-0, the Titans took control of the game in the second quarter. The Jets went 3 & out 5 straight times into the 3rd period & Tennessee was now ahead 17-14. Punting after their 6th straight 3 & out, Ryan Moutan tried to field a punt over his shoulder in a driving rain. I guess you know he fumbled, Jets recover, momentum swings, Jets score, Jets win. I had the Titans +3 for a loser.
Another team that threw one away was the Texans. Down 31-24, Houston lined up 1st & goal with 2:54 left in the game. QB Matt Schaub throws a touchdown pass that is nullified by offensive pass interference. First & goal at the 11, Schaub throws a pass to the 2-yard line. Second & goal at the two, RB Chris Brown appears to plunge into the endzone, one problem, he doesn't have the ball. Touch back, game over. I had the Texans -3 for a loser.
I also had the Bears -3, playing against a crippled Seattle team without their quarterback, left tackle & 2 starting linebackers. I was lucky to cover the 3. The Bears were maneuvering for a last minute field goal when a short pass to WR Devin Hester turned into a tackle-breaking 36-yard touchdown to win. Jay Cutler played well at times & others, he looked very ordinary, often with bad mechanics. One more thing about this game. Aaron Curry continued to prove the Chiefs wrong for passing on him. He had 6 solo tackles, 2 of them for losses, a sack & another quarterback hit. He is the type of player you build a defense around, like we used to draft before we went on a quest to corner the market on over-rated defensive linemen.
Oakland should thank their lucky stars they get to play Kansas City twice a season, I wonder if they could beat anyone else. JaMarcus Russell proved again yesterday why he was the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. He completed 12 passes for 61 yards & 2 interceptions. Throw in the 3 times he was sacked & the net passing yardage drops to 42. I didn't think his passer rating of 46.0 could get any worse. Yesterday, it was substantially worse, how about 22.6. Darren McFadden fumbled 3 times, losing one. Jeez, I bet you could get guys off the street who could do better than that. Don't get me started.
WooHoo! The Detroit Lions even won a game. They topped the ailing Redskins 19-14 to stop their losing streak at 21 games. St Louis plays the Lions in November in what might be their only shot at winning a game in '09. Kansas City plays the Browns, so one of them won't go winless, but I don't know if Tampa can scrounge up a win. The Chiefs, Browns, Rams & Bucs are truly terrible. Oakland is just slightly better.
Miami is running the risk of going worst-to-first-to-worst. They're competitive, but they continue to lose. QB Chad Pennington injured his shoulder Sunday & probably won't play this Sunday vs. the Bills(another bad team).
Did you think Cincinnati could come from behind 2 weeks in a row & beat Green Bay & Pittsburgh? Yesterday the Steelers led 20-9 with ten minutes left in the game. The Steelers, who finally ran the ball well, for 3 quarters at least, just didn't finish them off & when the Bengals got a little momentum, they finished off Big Ben & company. We'll see just how tough they are come October 11th, when they travel to Baltimore.
Have to say I'm whacko for Flacco. The kid is playing well. Sure they hammered K.C. & Cleveland, but Joe Flacco is playing as well as any QB in the league. Their next 3 games, at New England, Cincinnati & at Minnesota should tell us if the Ravens are the best team in the AFC.
Terrell Owens' mark of 185-consecutive games with a reception was broken yesterday. His pat line after the Bills' 27-7 loss to the Saints was "I'm just going with the plays that were called". He said it six times.
Niner running back Frank Gore, who had a monster game last week against Seattle with over 200 yards, sustained a high ankle sprain & will be sidelined 2-6 weeks. A major blow to San Francisco & fantasy football team owners.
Florida QB Tim Tebow was released from a Lexington Kentucky hospital. He suffered a concussion in the Gators win over Kentucky Saturday night as his coach left him in a blowout game needlessly.
Alabama will lose All-American linebacker Dont'a Hightower for the season. He suffered what Tide coach Nick Saban called "a significant knee injury". Hightower is a great kid & a team leader, he'll be sorely missed.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach suspended indefinitely his All-Big-12 offensive guard, Brandon Carter. Sunday's suspension was for the patented "violation of team policies". If you've ever seen Tech play, he's the guy who is covered in tats, has a long mohawk haircut & wears makeup like a pro wrestler. He's made for the Raiders, bad behavior & all.
I have a major beef about the college polls again this week, but I'm going to hold off a while before voicing them. I'm just too tired to start ranting right now.
The same goes for the Kansas City Chiefs. I have so many negative thoughts about their performance yesterday, I want to be able to sleep pretty soon & thinking of the nightmare in Philadelphia won't allow for that. Suffice to say, almost every part of that game was totally unacceptable. It was like many of our exhibition games this past preseason wasn't it? The Eagles kind of treated the game that way too I thought. They could have beaten the Chiefs in their street clothes. The 0-11 3rd down ratio was nice wasn't it? Once again we never touched their quarterback & our LSU contingent of Dorsey & Jackson were virtually invisible & Bowe didn't play because of injury. In the 3rd quarter the Chiefs faced 3rd & 26 & the Eagles pulled out of a blitz, sending just their 4 defensive linemen. Three of those four put their hands on Matt Cassel, our 5 offensive linemen & a back couldn't handle them. That pretty much capsulizes our football team. I tried to prepare Chiefs' fans for another dismal season, but even I couldn't predict this combination of horrible play, horrible coaching & horrible management. I fear that more than a few players will quit on Haley before they experience their 1st win of the 2009 season. Which might not come until December, or not at all.
As we spent another Sunday hold up in the television bunker, I can tell you we watched a lot of bad football. I saw a few good teams dispatch their opponents quickly & mercifully like Philadelphia, the Giants & Baltimore. The Giants played without 8 starters & still skunked the Bucs 24-0 in Tampa. Philly was minus Kevin Curtis, Brian Westbrook & Donovan McNabb, but they were playing, what is essentially, a AA team, so no real problem. Baltimore feasted on the Browns, another AA team.
The number of game-changing plays in the San Francisco-Minnesota game made it exciting to watch, but there was a lot of bad football in that one too. Percy Harvin ran back a kickoff 101-yards. The Vikes lined up for a field goal attempt on the last play of the 1st half leading 13-7. The kick was blocked & returned for a touchdown, instead of going to the locker room up 16-7, they trailed 14-13. And if you missed the last minute of the game, Viking fans were treated to some vintage Brett Favre. With 11 seconds left at the Niner 32, Favre, after moving around to avoid the rush, threw a perfect strike to wide receiver Greg Lewis on the back line of the endzone for the winning score. It was Lewis' 1st catch of the day, in fact he hadn't played one offensive down before that play. Lewis made a good catch, but getting both feet down inside the back line with 2 defenders on him, was amazing.
The Tennessee Titans snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the Meadowlands. Jet QB Mark Sanchez scrambled for a touchdown on their first possession. On the ensuing kickoff, Titan return man Ryan Moutan, fumbled at the Tennessee 19 & 5 plays later the Jets scored again. Down 14-0, the Titans took control of the game in the second quarter. The Jets went 3 & out 5 straight times into the 3rd period & Tennessee was now ahead 17-14. Punting after their 6th straight 3 & out, Ryan Moutan tried to field a punt over his shoulder in a driving rain. I guess you know he fumbled, Jets recover, momentum swings, Jets score, Jets win. I had the Titans +3 for a loser.
Another team that threw one away was the Texans. Down 31-24, Houston lined up 1st & goal with 2:54 left in the game. QB Matt Schaub throws a touchdown pass that is nullified by offensive pass interference. First & goal at the 11, Schaub throws a pass to the 2-yard line. Second & goal at the two, RB Chris Brown appears to plunge into the endzone, one problem, he doesn't have the ball. Touch back, game over. I had the Texans -3 for a loser.
I also had the Bears -3, playing against a crippled Seattle team without their quarterback, left tackle & 2 starting linebackers. I was lucky to cover the 3. The Bears were maneuvering for a last minute field goal when a short pass to WR Devin Hester turned into a tackle-breaking 36-yard touchdown to win. Jay Cutler played well at times & others, he looked very ordinary, often with bad mechanics. One more thing about this game. Aaron Curry continued to prove the Chiefs wrong for passing on him. He had 6 solo tackles, 2 of them for losses, a sack & another quarterback hit. He is the type of player you build a defense around, like we used to draft before we went on a quest to corner the market on over-rated defensive linemen.
Oakland should thank their lucky stars they get to play Kansas City twice a season, I wonder if they could beat anyone else. JaMarcus Russell proved again yesterday why he was the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. He completed 12 passes for 61 yards & 2 interceptions. Throw in the 3 times he was sacked & the net passing yardage drops to 42. I didn't think his passer rating of 46.0 could get any worse. Yesterday, it was substantially worse, how about 22.6. Darren McFadden fumbled 3 times, losing one. Jeez, I bet you could get guys off the street who could do better than that. Don't get me started.
WooHoo! The Detroit Lions even won a game. They topped the ailing Redskins 19-14 to stop their losing streak at 21 games. St Louis plays the Lions in November in what might be their only shot at winning a game in '09. Kansas City plays the Browns, so one of them won't go winless, but I don't know if Tampa can scrounge up a win. The Chiefs, Browns, Rams & Bucs are truly terrible. Oakland is just slightly better.
Miami is running the risk of going worst-to-first-to-worst. They're competitive, but they continue to lose. QB Chad Pennington injured his shoulder Sunday & probably won't play this Sunday vs. the Bills(another bad team).
Did you think Cincinnati could come from behind 2 weeks in a row & beat Green Bay & Pittsburgh? Yesterday the Steelers led 20-9 with ten minutes left in the game. The Steelers, who finally ran the ball well, for 3 quarters at least, just didn't finish them off & when the Bengals got a little momentum, they finished off Big Ben & company. We'll see just how tough they are come October 11th, when they travel to Baltimore.
Have to say I'm whacko for Flacco. The kid is playing well. Sure they hammered K.C. & Cleveland, but Joe Flacco is playing as well as any QB in the league. Their next 3 games, at New England, Cincinnati & at Minnesota should tell us if the Ravens are the best team in the AFC.
Terrell Owens' mark of 185-consecutive games with a reception was broken yesterday. His pat line after the Bills' 27-7 loss to the Saints was "I'm just going with the plays that were called". He said it six times.
Niner running back Frank Gore, who had a monster game last week against Seattle with over 200 yards, sustained a high ankle sprain & will be sidelined 2-6 weeks. A major blow to San Francisco & fantasy football team owners.
Florida QB Tim Tebow was released from a Lexington Kentucky hospital. He suffered a concussion in the Gators win over Kentucky Saturday night as his coach left him in a blowout game needlessly.
Alabama will lose All-American linebacker Dont'a Hightower for the season. He suffered what Tide coach Nick Saban called "a significant knee injury". Hightower is a great kid & a team leader, he'll be sorely missed.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach suspended indefinitely his All-Big-12 offensive guard, Brandon Carter. Sunday's suspension was for the patented "violation of team policies". If you've ever seen Tech play, he's the guy who is covered in tats, has a long mohawk haircut & wears makeup like a pro wrestler. He's made for the Raiders, bad behavior & all.
I have a major beef about the college polls again this week, but I'm going to hold off a while before voicing them. I'm just too tired to start ranting right now.
The same goes for the Kansas City Chiefs. I have so many negative thoughts about their performance yesterday, I want to be able to sleep pretty soon & thinking of the nightmare in Philadelphia won't allow for that. Suffice to say, almost every part of that game was totally unacceptable. It was like many of our exhibition games this past preseason wasn't it? The Eagles kind of treated the game that way too I thought. They could have beaten the Chiefs in their street clothes. The 0-11 3rd down ratio was nice wasn't it? Once again we never touched their quarterback & our LSU contingent of Dorsey & Jackson were virtually invisible & Bowe didn't play because of injury. In the 3rd quarter the Chiefs faced 3rd & 26 & the Eagles pulled out of a blitz, sending just their 4 defensive linemen. Three of those four put their hands on Matt Cassel, our 5 offensive linemen & a back couldn't handle them. That pretty much capsulizes our football team. I tried to prepare Chiefs' fans for another dismal season, but even I couldn't predict this combination of horrible play, horrible coaching & horrible management. I fear that more than a few players will quit on Haley before they experience their 1st win of the 2009 season. Which might not come until December, or not at all.
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